Do you ever wish there was a way to keep projects on budget and delivered on time? A simple tool that made collaboration between teams and clients easier. Well thanks to a tool called Copper this task now becomes easy as pie.

The great thing about Copper is that it lets you not only manage tasks and projects but also your clients, team members and even your budget. The user interface is very easy to learn and incorporates elements from popular software that you are most likely already using today. The interface lets you quickly search through projects by simply entering a keyword.

Thanks to a brilliant timeline view you will quickly see the bigger picture. The timeline view lets you see what is overlapping and when you have free time where you can schedule projects. This helps you to easier stay on track with current and future projects.

If you need to manage your billing and assets then copper has you covered too:

Win a Year’s worth of Copper:

If you would like to win a years worth of Copper, then all you need to do is leave a comment below. The giveaway will end a week from today, February 19th. We will choose a lucky winner then, so good luck!

]]>http://designreviver.com/giveaway/giveaway-copper-project-management-software-creative-teams/feed/0http://designreviver.com/giveaway/giveaway-copper-project-management-software-creative-teams/Cloud Computing: 9 Ways To Bust A Cloudhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/okGV65c2UwA/
http://designreviver.com/articles/cloud-computing-9-ways-bust-cloud/#commentsTue, 03 Feb 2015 14:28:22 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=18125Clouds computing is such a new phenomenon on the Internet technology landscape that there is often no clear idea how to protect from threats to…

Clouds computing is such a new phenomenon on the Internet technology landscape that there is often no clear idea how to protect from threats to cloud computing. However, last year, an organization called The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) created a list of the biggest threats the nascent industry. In all, they identified nine threats to cloud computing.

Briefly the list identified the top threats to be data breaches, data loss, account or service traffic hijacking, insecure interfaces and APIs, denial of service, malicious insiders, abuse of Cloud Services, insufficient due diligence, and technology vulnerabilities

Data Breaches

Cloud users, known as tenants, represent a corporation’s collection of applications and information. This information is often sensitive in nature. Since clouds are huge, their databases consist of multi-tenants. If an intruder could penetrate one tenant’s account due to a design flaw in an application, he or she could leapfrog to other tenant accounts as well. In other words, an intruder who had broken into one tenant’s account could visit any other tenant on the cloud and modify or steal sensitive information.

Data Loss

While a data breach results in data loss due to a malicious intruder, data loss can also occur for other reasons, too. For instance, it could be lost if a disk drive crashes and the data owner has not done a backup or it could be lost because the data is encrypted and the data owner has lost the key to open it.

Account or Service Traffic Hijacking

Hijacking accounts has long been a problem on the Internet. Common Internet scams include phishing, using buffer overflow attacks to exploit vulnerabilities in software, stealing passwords, and borrowing credentials. Hijacking an account on the cloud can prove devastating to the account owner. For instance, a hacker who has taken over a user account can cause all kinds of malicious damage like changing the figures in a transaction, giving customers inappropriate responses to damage the reputation of the business, or even redirecting clients to a competitor’s website.

Insecure Interfaces and APIs

API is an abbreviation for application programming interface. An API allows a third party to connect an application to a service. It’s function is to get permission and gain access by verifying the identity of the third party. However, much like a thief can damage the reputation of a passport holder; an API can be misused on the cloud to create damage to the real third party user.

Denial of Service

According to webopedia, a denial of service attack is “ a type of attack on a network that is designed to bring the network to its knees by flooding it with useless traffic. Many DoS attacks, such as the Ping of Death andTeardrop attacks, exploit limitations in the TCP/IP protocols. For all known DoS attacks, there are software fixes that system administrators can install to limit the damage caused by the attacks. But, like , new viruses DoS attacks are constantly being dreamed up by hackers.” Just as this type of attack can cause mayhem on a network, on a cloud, it can disrupt all cloud-based service to users.

Malicious Insiders

Once malicious insiders gain access to cloud data, they can cause all sorts of problems for tenants. Usually, this is possible if tenants keep their encryption keys on the cloud itself.

Abuse of Cloud Services

There is no limit to how attackers can abuse cloud services. According to the CSA report “It might take an attacker years to crack an encryption key using his own limited hardware. But using an array of cloud servers, he might be able to crack it in minutes.” Another example is that a hacker could use cloud services to liberally give out pirated applications or use it to distribute viruses.

Insufficient Due Diligence

When service providers on the cloud fail to clearly outline terms of service, customers can unintentionally misuse their services and put the service providers at risk for violating legal or regulatory issues.

Technology Vulnerabilities

Finally, since the cloud is a shared infrastructure, a faulty application on an account could begin to compromise applications in other accounts.

Did any of your client websites ever suffer from plugin or widget overload? The symptoms of this terrible affliction include slow loading pages and a dramatic decrease of incoming traffic. Cure it for good with the powerful X Theme.

It’s been a while since X Theme has come to our attention. This theme demands attention. The customer support alone has been praised far and wide. But that’s not the only thing that’s fast with X Theme. Now, it has 15 top of the line Extensions that are optimized for high performance.

The Theme with Complete Designs

Most of all, we admire the individual designs from X Theme. We’re looking at the single most versatile WordPress theme on the web. Theme.co will continue to add Stacks, but so far you can take advantage of Integrity, Renew, Icon, and Ethos. Four different Stacks, and four different looks.

Ethos is the newcomer. Theme.co engineered it for news or magazine websites that use a lot of images. Integrity was the first. Business websites and e-Commerce shops based on this Stack look elegant and professional. Renew is multi-purpose and suffused with elements of flat design. On the other hand, Icon is a minimal and modern design for blogs.

“Really a GREAT theme. Infinite design possibilities, suitable for every project. I particularly appreciate the quickness of customer service, and the control you have over layout with the Visual Composer.”

“I had been looking for a theme that would set me free. I don’t want footer, header, or any of that, I just want a blank page where I can add what I need. It took about 6 seconds to get to that result with this theme. The last theme I’ll ever need!”

Why You Want to Use Extensions

At the beginning of this post, we emphasized the importance of using optimized plugins for your clients’ websites. Now, let’s have a look at the plugins bundled with X Theme, and see what they can do for you.

First off, a total number of 15 Extensions are on the table, for free. Purchase a license, and verify it. Then, they’re all yours. Updates are automatically enacted for all lifetime. And the best part is that you don’t have to worry that future updates will mess up your work.

There are two kinds of Extensions: custom-made, and adapted.

Our favorite Extensions are the custom-made plugins for marketing. A good example is Content Dock. Don’t hesitate to use it and propose content suggestions or marketing offers for your readers. Use anything from shortcodes, to links, images, and text. Devise a non-intrusive box that shows up as users are done scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Push deals forward more directly through a well-timed video and a big call to action button just below. Configure the Video Lock extension, and you’ll see that it’s possible to establish a precise width for the video. Insert a sizable heading and subheading, then choose one of the three available marketing buttons.

You probably want your website to have a good MailChimp Integration, so you can subscribe users to an e-mailing list. With X Theme, it’s only too easy to customize a fine-looking form, and place it on your website for everyone to see.

Speaking of forms, be sure to insert a check box whereby users agree to your Terms of Use. They can’t complete the registration process if they skip this step, and a notice appears to inform them of this.

In no particular order, here are the other precious Extensions that X Theme has in stock. We leave it to you to infer their uses: White Label, Olark Integration, Smooth Scrolling, Google Analytics, Custom 404, Under Construction, Facebook Comments, Disqus Comments, Soliloquy, Slider Revolution, and Visual Composer.

See how the following websites use the Content Dock extension.

X Theme – The Performance Wizard

So far, so good. We witnessed what this theme is capable of, through over a dozen Extensions. The fact that most of them are premium WordPress plugins doesn’t mean they pose a threat to your bandwidth. Theme.co did a good job of adapting these Extensions. So, you don’t have to worry that humans and search engines choose to ignore your website. Fast load times boost your page ranking, which in turn leads to more traffic.

Little did we know that the X Theme performance stretches beyond Extensions, to the actual Customizer. Some time ago, the theme developers tried something. They tried to store settings on the database, and then fetch them back, in two ways. First, with the Theme Modification API, and then with the Customizer Options API. There was a big difference in load time. With the Options API, settings were stored in the database on an individual row. And so, in stark contrast with the Theme Modification API, the second route shortened loading time in the Customizer by 81%, and in the front end, by 31%.

This explains why X Theme is the fastest selling product on ThemeForest. Presently, it counts 38K+ sold copies.

Make the Most of X Theme

In 2015, Theme.co are firing with all cylinders. If you like what they’ve done with X Theme at the end of last year, you’re going to love what lies in store next. For starters, the demos will be updated and added to. New updates and exciting new features are on the way. It seems like X already has a significant head start compared to other themes. What are you waiting for? Buy the ultimate WordPress theme today!

As most graphics designers know, purchasing stock photos, ready graphics and other images can be a very expensive proposition today. In case your budget does not allow you the luxury of purchasing image files, you are left with no other option than to try and find free images – a task that can take huge amounts of time and effort.

Even after you have searched and toiled, struggled through clumsy and difficult navigation, suffered distracting advertisements and finally found a free image that suits your requirement and are finally ready to download it, you often find out that it is free only for personal use and if your intended use is of a commercial nature, you must pay for it.

Under the circumstances, it can be said truthfully that the task of obtaining good quality images ultimately ends up costing you one way or another – either in terms of your money or in terms of your time.

For those of you who happen to be at the receiving end of such problems, there’s some good news. 1001FreeDownloads.com – a recently launched web site offers thousands of royalty-free image files that you can download and use for personal as well as commercial purposes.

When you first visit the 1001FreeDownloads.com web site, you will be pleasantly surprised by its simple, no-nonsense navigation structure that will allow you to find the file/s you’re looking for quickly and painlessly. All the available downloads are organized and linked under 9 different categories in the header itself so that you can reach your target area of the site with just one click, as the following screenshot illustrates:

As you can see above, the 9 image categories are: Vectors, Photos, Fonts, Icons, Wallpapers, Brushes, Styles, Patterns and Clipart. With such a wide collection, you are bound to find what you’re looking for no matter what your requirement is.

In addition to browsing the site via image category links, you can also run keyword searches across all or any of the categories to locate the files of your interest quickly.

Of course, 1001FreeDownloads.com also displays some paid file download options and other advertisements too, but these are presented in a non-intrusive manner that does not annoy or distract you in a major way.

To conclude, if you need good quality image files for graphics work, you should give 1001FreeDownloads.com a shot – you will probably not be disappointed.

]]>http://designreviver.com/review/1001freedownloads-com-review/feed/0http://designreviver.com/review/1001freedownloads-com-review/Top 5 tips to improve mobile UXhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/bnapNut5Pgg/
http://designreviver.com/inspiration/top-5-tips-improve-mobile-ux/#commentsWed, 21 Jan 2015 09:37:10 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=18082As all motorists understand: it’s easier to get around a city in a compact ‘smart’ car, and motorway cruising is more comfortable in a…

As all motorists understand: it’s easier to get around a city in a compact ‘smart’ car, and motorway cruising is more comfortable in a premium estate model. Those looking to improve online website access for smartphones and tablets must likewise appreciate the mobile-user experience (mobile UX) must be customized for this environment. Any attempt to merely recycle material from the desktop domain will be doomed to failure. Here are some key factors to take into consideration.

1. Design For The Environment

Research suggests typical mobile users are primarily task-oriented, they come to your website with a purpose in mind. So if your visitors are rarely browsers, you should clearly establish the task(s) they will most frequently seek to execute. Your design focus should then seek to optimize your mobile UX in favor of those tasks. In a mobile environment speed is essential. The user has any number of potential distractions, so your site content must deliver what is required without delay, otherwise your potential customer will soon look elsewhere.

2. Route-One Mentality

Whatever visitor behavior you seek needs to be upfront and visible on your landing page. Whether it’s ‘order now’, ‘get quote’, ‘contact us’ or similar, these one-click options must be quick and easy to access with one finger. With careful grouping under sub-menus, ancillary information can remain available without either cluttering the main screen message or presenting the need to drill down through several layers. Navigational scrolling and excess clicking are soul-destroying on mobile devices, so be prepared to meet the mobile UX challenge by placing your killer offer, or exclusive info, fully centre stage. For example, Google reported that mobile users prefer easily cancelable promotional banners to large permanent space-hogging announcements.

3. Sticky Menu Searches

Even with an optimum design, an easy search option will significantly improve the mobile UX. The ability to perform an instant search via an always-visible ‘sticky’ menu, without having to scroll back to the top of a page, or even click back through a series of pages, is a powerful option giving users rapid trouble-free access to all site elements. Conversely, the lack of such functionality is a powerful incentive for your visitor to quit and search elsewhere.

4. Clarify Interactive Behavior

Desktop users with mouse access can hover over screen items to establish the correct mode of interaction. However, with on-screen space at a premium in the mobile environment it becomes essential to design your site so that all links and interactive choices are well-spaced and recognizably clear. Remember too that mobile connectivity is often hampered by slow speeds and consequent irregular page loading — another compelling reason to use a crystal-clear design approach to overcome any reluctance to commit to what can easily be perceived as dodgy navigational options.

5. Regularly Test And Review

Though the figures quoted may vary, all industry opinion believes mobile access will continue to increase over the coming years. With that in mind, you should test and review your company’s mobile UX on a regular basis. For most businesses this will be a matter of blending overarching ease-of-access developments with the niche industry-specific requirements potential customers demand.

Provided you can develop a clear strategy to streamline the mobile UX on your site, your web design services are best handled by a digital design agency. They are the ones best placed to advise on the most elegant and efficient means of implementing your plans.

Author Bio: Andy is a director of Beyond, a leading web design agency in London, specializing in user-centered branding and creative design services. He specializes in UX led, responsive design. He is passionate about the power of digital to influence user behavior. Feel free to connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.

]]>http://designreviver.com/inspiration/top-5-tips-improve-mobile-ux/feed/0http://designreviver.com/inspiration/top-5-tips-improve-mobile-ux/Weekly Web Design News Roundup – January 16http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/n29lOrmWP8g/
http://designreviver.com/updates/weekly-web-design-news-roundup-january-16/#commentsFri, 16 Jan 2015 11:00:54 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=18071The week is coming to an end and that means it is time for us to look back on the week that passed, the…

The week is coming to an end and that means it is time for us to look back on the week that passed, the best design news, resources and other goodies. This week we look at free pattern generators, how you can easily mess up your website as well as the best Photoshop tutorials from January.

You have acquired all the graphic design skills after years of experience. Now is the time that you shed dependency on your company or agency for work. With your skills and experience in place, you can easily get work from home, saving your travel time and money. Surely, you will be your own boss and will have the freedom to do some really creative work from your studio at home.

Background patterns play an important role in the design process. The main pattern used in nearly every site (grid and non grid) was the “title, thumbnail, short summary, more link” pattern. This pattern is generally used for indexing blog post summaries in sidebars, listing services, or creating small calls-to-action.

There’s nothing like messing up your website for the New Year, isn’t there? Well okay, forgive me. This is just my approach to humor (and not a very good effort). Anyway though, the problem still stands. There’s just no other way to say it. Some site owners will completely, and inevitably, mess up their sites in 2015. And there’s plenty of ways in which this could happen. So just to keep you safe, let’s list nine most common website mistakes that businesses make, along with direct tips on how to prevent them from happening.

Perusing your digital photos are great, but sometimes you just want something a little more tangible, something you can hold in your hands. Of course you can turn to getting a bunch of prints at your local superstore or pharmacy, but then what do you do with all the prints? If you’re anything like me, you look through them twice and then shove them into a drawer to be forgotten.

Though visual design is often seen as an aesthetic add-on, I assure you that there’s more to it than making it look good. Visual design is often a fine balance between design and interaction constraints. The hand-off between interaction designer and visual designer is an important part of the design process that places final design impact squarely with the visual designer. However, it’s the balance between making it look good while retaining the usability that makes a product successful. After all, aesthetics without function is just art.

There are some essential Photoshop courses available in the Internet, which train you on all thing you desire to learn if you want to get started out with Photoshop. Most of such tutorials available with every video clips and text transcripts, so that you never make mistakes. Photoshop is one of the most well-liked software program which is available free in the present times. Additionally, the Photoshop from Adobe is getting huge popularity with every passing day. Do you want to get any graphic program? Or do you desire to modify the photos that you have captured? No issue whatsoever! With the assistance of these most recent Photoshop tutorials for January 2015, you can do all these things alongside numerous other select things.

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Are your clients a bit younger than most? Do you want to give away promo items that both parents and kids will love? Because promotional items should be tailored to your target audience, useful, and a real investment, you should not discount purchasing promo items (in some cases) with kids in mind. Here, we will talk about a few cool promotional items that also work as great kids gifts. In most cases, you can purchase such items with your company logo, or even personalize them for each individual client or child.

Piggy Banks

If you are in the financial sector, then you may feel as if you are at a loss as to what to give younger attendees at conferences or when they walk into your offices. However, fret no longer. One of the coolest and cutest promotional items you can buy are piggy banks. Piggy banks are great fun for kids. Plus, they can help their parents to teach them the importance of saving money. In many cases, you can find piggy banks that are shaped in a variety of ways, or available in many different colors. The choice gives children the feeling of power.

Stuffed Animals

Stuffed animals might seem like an expensive promotional item. But if you want returns on your investment in promo items, then invest in something great! When kids get this from you, they will truly feel as if they got a real gift. Stuffed animals are more than just teddy bears, remember. You can purchase stuffed tigers, foxes, dogs, bears, sharks, horses, ducks, frogs, monkeys, and more. Just choose something suitable for your company. Some of these stuffed animals come with “shirts,” on which your logo can be printed or embroidered. In other cases, the logo goes right on the toy.

A Plethora of Other Toys

Want other ideas for promo items that double as cool kids’ gifts? There are a plethora of other toys out there that can be used as promotional items, and are available for customization from a variety of sellers. Manufacturers like National Pen offer a variety of promo products for just about any occasion, ranging from the classic baseball cap, to the slightly-more-functional keychain flashlight. Other items that might arouse curiosity include things like:

Bouncy balls or squishy balls;

Frisbees;

Bubbles;

Yoyos;

Slinkys;

Rubik cubes;

Kites;

A variety of games;

Water pistols or items that squirt water;

Stickers;

Coloring books;

Art supplies;

…and much more!

If you are searching for it to use as a promotional item, chances are some company out there already does it! Just get to looking!

]]>http://designreviver.com/inspiration/cool-promo-items-kid-friendly/feed/0http://designreviver.com/inspiration/cool-promo-items-kid-friendly/4 Inspirational Sidebar Designs that Invite Viral Traffichttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/sKfF2xlC9eM/
http://designreviver.com/inspiration/4-inspirational-sidebar-designs-invite-viral-traffic/#commentsMon, 05 Jan 2015 10:22:23 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=18042A sidebar is one of the most important aspects of your website layout. Visitors get an idea about your blog or website through the…

A sidebar is one of the most important aspects of your website layout. Visitors get an idea about your blog or website through the sidebar, before they make up their minds to stay or quit. So, making sure your website has a great sidebar is of significant importance; your sidebar must encourage visitors to take a closer look at your website. It should act as a trigger for better user engagement and increase the probability of conversions.

Before I talk about some of the most inspiring sidebar designs that I have across on the web, I would like to share few words on the criteria for a great sidebar.

So, what makes a great sidebar that converts?

It should be above the fold

What does the phrase ‘above the fold’ mean? Everything you see on a website, before your begin to scroll is called ‘above the fold’. Place a well-designed sidebar laden with useful content or links, there. It will catch every visitor’s attention.

Eye-catching but not distracting

You can place the sidebar on the left or right side of the web page. Usually, it is on the right side because we read from left to right. Sidebar may host a video or a captivating image, but take care that it must not distract the visitors, especially if they come to your blog to read your posts.

Prompts deeper interactions

The whole purpose of the website is conversion and if your sidebar augments it, then you have got it right. The perfect sidebar encourages visitors to click deeper into your website or blog.

Now let’s take a look at 4 examples of websites that leverage their smart sidebar design for more conversions:

1. Leverage Representative Advertising with Relevant Sidebar Design

Online advertisement is a huge industry and I will not ignore the idea of advertising in the sidebar area of the website.

I came across www.onpasture.com and was impressed by how cleanly the content is spread on the left and well complemented by the related advertisement in the sidebar area on the right. It is a good content marketing practice, to influence the decision of readers through useful content and encouraging them to click on related advertisements.

If you are content marketer, I recommend you follow this sidebar design concept. There is a very good chance, you will be surprised by the viral clicks your website gets and the fact that it becomes a money-spinner quickly!

2. Leverage Video Marketing with Sidebar Design

Video marketing is the next big thing in the online marketing world. According to Guardian, it is the future of online marketing.

If a picture is worth a 1000 words, how many words do you think a video is worth?

I came across www.lynda.com, an online tutorial website, hence loaded with heavy content. But the designer has smartly used the sidebar area. The video links of the courses on the sidebar relate with the main content on the page. The links take you deeper into the website and help you explore more related courses without losing your way. You will face no navigation issues and you are always where you intend to be.

The relevant, compelling videos in the sidebar enhance user experience and make your search simple and easy.

If you have an online business, you can embed video testimonials relevant to the content on the same page and win your prospective clients’ trust; this can trigger conversions.

I will definitely recommend this type of sidebar layout for video marketing companies and content marketers (who want to pursue online video marketing).

3. Side Bar Design that Makes Content Go Viral

I came across www.viperchill.com, a great viral marketing website; content-centric with a well-used sidebar space. Though its design is very simple, the sidebar is quite effective in delivering the intended message.

Look at the testimonials about Glen, the owner of the site. They are all from credible sources like Copyblogger and Guardian.

The social media buttons are nicely placed below t popular post archives. The highlighted comment -numbers will prompt you to click and maybe share them on your social media pages. All the content in the side bar is packed, nice and clean.

What you have is a simple but engaging sidebar design, well placed to increase virality of content.

Collapsible/expandable sidebar gives more room to spread the visual content- images and video on the web page without shutting out important navigational links from the home page.

Collapsible/Expandable Menu on the Right side

Animal planet is a wildlife TV channel that has a great looking website http://blood-and-water.animalplanet.com/. The collapsible side bar with links, takes you deeper into the website from the main page without interfering with the great video presentations on different pages. You find the sidebar on every page and at the bottom, social media buttons. So, content sharing is quite easy.

The combination of a dynamic sidebar and scrolling make browsing a painless and pleasurable experience.

The content also gets its prominence because the collapsible sidebar menu does not interfere with it. The sidebar menu simply slides out and expands after you click the special icon.

Expandable Menu on Left side

The website www.createpilates.com is another good example of an expandable/collapsible sidebar menu. If you click the special icon on the top right corner of the website, a full-height sidebar menu appears. If you click any link, you will automatically scroll down to the desired content.

The full-height sidebar menu on the left side in yellow background immediately draws attention to all the important navigational links. Clicking on the ‘CROSS’ icon in the top-right corner of the sidebar collapses the menu into a special icon, which can again be expanded into a full-height menu, whenever you want.

You get a clear, full-spread view of the image or content, free from unwanted text because of the collapsible feature of the sidebar.

Conclusion

Sidebar design should complement the content, whether visual or text. Depending upon the nature of the online business and type of content hosted on your website, you can leverage the sidebar design effectively to increase conversion rates.

Author Bio: Michael Georgiou is a dynamic business professional and entrepreneurial guru associated with Imaginovation – Website Design Company in Raleigh proven his success in creative strategy, online branding, project management, and communication projects in both the public and private sectors.

]]>http://designreviver.com/inspiration/4-inspirational-sidebar-designs-invite-viral-traffic/feed/0http://designreviver.com/inspiration/4-inspirational-sidebar-designs-invite-viral-traffic/Best Cinemagraphs on the Internethttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/wpLZn6yaW7U/
http://designreviver.com/updates/best-cinemagraphs-internet/#commentsTue, 30 Dec 2014 10:07:38 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=18025Cinemagraphs have become the latest trend to dominate design, blogs and social media platforms. Combining a still image on a continuous motion and a…

Cinemagraphs have become the latest trend to dominate design, blogs and social media platforms. Combining a still image on a continuous motion and a small video loop in a GIF file, the cinemagraphs are an online sensation.

One of the more common cinemagraphs, the pouring visual is high effective. There is no imprint left on the glass or change in level from the bottle, the only movement comes from the constant flow of wine.

New York is famed from is underground Subway network, with the Rockerfeller Center stop being one of the most popular. Without anybody being captured in the entire scene, the train pulls into the station and departs instantly.

Rather than picking one of the more gruesome clips from the film to visualise, the Fight Club cinemagraphic is represented in a more humorous way. The narrator (Edward Norton) has his head forced into the chest of Big Bob, as his hair is being caressed.

There is nothing finer in life than the smell coming off bacon being cooked in a frying pan. This cinemagraph captures the peferct pictures, the sizzling oil and fat slowly crisping the top of the rasher.

To celebrate the success of the latest viral sensation, Ladbrokes Casino have had a go at creating their own gaming themed cinemagraphs. Here we see the plucky gambler pulling his cards away from the table, revealing to the bellow camera what he has been dealt.

Nowadays web designers encounter numerous challenges in attempting to build a highly immersive eCommerce website that provides a great shopping experience to users. A successful online store not only has to be beautiful, but it should also generate sales (right!?) and have good conversion rates.

Before you’re going to (re)design your eCommerce store – either by starting from scratch or using an online shop builder – it’s crucial to take a look at other successful eCommerce designs that got their audience engaged through interactive user interfaces, eye-catching visuals, and good usability. To help you make your upcoming eCommerce project outstanding, here I’m going to analyze 10 amazing eCommerce websites that I believe are worth seeing. May be, not all of them are perfect for you, but I’m sure you’ll learn a thing or two from each of them. Also, check this article for more Shopify reviews.

ETQ Amsterdam, an exceptional Amsterdam based fashion brand, has a clean and minimalistic e-commerce design with a significant focus on their products. Designed by highly-experienced developers at Build in Amsterdam, this Magento powered webshop is not only fully responsive, but also retina ready to display product images in the highest possible quality.

All design, interaction and navigation choices are totally based on ETQ’s brand values. Their site has a well thought sales path that guides visitors by showing them the right button at the right time. On the other hand, a “less is more” navigation structure makes the buying process distraction free. Finally, soft animations and gentle mouse hovers bring life to the quality of products.

With his 20 years of experience, Michael V. Acord or “Vaughn” has achieved an international reputation in men’s grooming. In January 2014, he launched his hair-centric men’s grooming line, V76 by Vaughn, with an aim to make grooming accessible to all men and develop innovative products that are helpful in enhancing the grooming process.

By blending sophistication with freshness, the V76 website takes eCommerce to the next level. This fully responsive site is designed to deliver a truly immersive cross-platform experience to users, while also spotlighting the voice and personality of their brand in the world of men’s grooming. Apart from this, the Lookbook is quite innovative. Instead of professional models, they’ve featured real men from different walks of life.

Master and Dynamic, a new headphone company, has made a memorable first impression in the headphone community due to its clean, colorful, and responsive website. The user-interface of their site totally matches the creativity and quality of the product being sold. The whole site is tailored to what customers expect from a fastest growing brand like Master and Dynamic.

Developed by Wondersauce, this website is the result of Master and Dynamic‘s highly philosophical approach that distinguishes them from others. The effective presentation of products makes it easy for customers to digest information quickly and easily, while an enjoyable browsing experience entices shoppers to buy their products.

AYR, a new online retailer from Brooklyn, believes in simplicity and inspiration. That’s why they’ve kept their e-commerce design fully responsive and minimal. The custom dynamic content presented on their site excellently illustrates their brand’s story, while smooth transitions make the shopping experience highly interactive.

On the product detail page of AYR, there’s a simple color wheel that makes the purchasing process easy and effortless. Having simple and user-friendly navigation, their website is an excellent example of achieving harmony between design and usability.

Industry Standard’s website is designed with an idea of making a great pair of jeans with both fabulous quality and a reasonable price tag. Just like their great-fitting fashionable jeans, their site meets every aspect of the visual communications including strong brand identity and an inspiring responsive web-shop.

Based on famous eCommerce software Shopify, this clean and bright clearly reflects the way an eCommerce website should be crafted. An informative product page, high-quality images, a story-telling about page, awesome image mouse hover affects show they’re going to “set a new standard for Jeans”.

Greats is the first American direct-to-consumer men’s sneaker brand that offers classically designed premium-quality, stylish sneakers for a price that won’t break the bank. Their e-commerce design is very unique and clean, lavishly showcasing their sneakers with stunningly beautiful photographs. The beautifully designed homepage drives the visitor right into the products of their key shoe designs.

Like Industry Standard, this fully responsive site is also built on Shopify while design is done by Wondersauce. On the product page, there is an option to rotate the product through which buyers can get personal with the pair that they’re going to have on their feet. Moreover, an inspiring light box with intuitive zoom options allows buyer to have a close look of the pair.

AB Aeterno is a prestigious Italian watchmaker known for designing eco fashion timepieces made by 100% natural wood. Once you land on their website’s home page, straight away you are welcomed by incredible images of watches. Every watch on their site is showcased in a very clean and appealing way, highlighting a lot of important information.

The product page of this responsive eCommerce site is also extremely impressive, giving customers much insight into product that they believe they are interested in. There are tooltips attached to every item for providing extended information to customers. While the replacement of traditional text input fields or dropdown menus with clickable +/- selectors makes the buying process less time-consuming.

Lexi Miller is a California based revolutionary women’s cycling apparel brand. Armed with inspiring visual content and intuitive navigation, their site is designed with a strong focus on branding. Everything from design to photography on their site represents their brand values. Keeping their eCommerce design clean, minimal, responsive and self explanatory, they’ve shown how they could make a difference.

On their website’s home page, they’ve displayed their featured products and a video that exposes “the joy of Cycling” to visitors. In spite of not having any zoom option attached to product images, their product page attracts the user to buy the product. A “View Size & Fit Guide” link is also given there to help users choose the correct product size.

Folks Verona is an online clothing store where you can find clothes, hats, books, shoes, and more by the most known international brands such as Levi’s, Dickies and Vans. As soon you open this website, you see a cool 100% width & height video giving you an incredible sense of peace.

This video background doesn’t only fit perfectly with their brand identity, but also makes consumers inclined to purchase a product. When it comes to product page, it’s simpler than other websites in this list. However, the zoom option is available to have a closer look at product.

Falve is a Wellington based menswear label that was launched by wife and husband, Emma Johnstone and Dan. They are known for producing limited rubs of handcrafted garments and goods. Though their website is a new kid in eCommerce world, but it is following web design trends to a great extent.

Falve’s website is designed to be simple and easy to navigate with an emphasis on details about the construction of products. Colors and typography is spot on, which makes their eCommerce design outstanding and visually compelling. Overall the best example of eCommerce design with a responsive and minimalistic approach.

]]>http://designreviver.com/inspiration/10-new-ecommerce-websites-get-inspiration/feed/3http://designreviver.com/inspiration/10-new-ecommerce-websites-get-inspiration/Shopify review for designershttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/j7-f0FxYL2s/
http://designreviver.com/tips/shopify-for-designers-review/#commentsMon, 29 Dec 2014 04:09:55 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=16432So how does a designer, or a photographer, or a painter go about setting up an online store? Does he build a website from…

So how does a designer, or a photographer, or a painter go about setting up an online store? Does he build a website from scratch and start the business through a standalone website? If the user has enough capital to hire a developer or a small studio, he can go ahead and splash it to create an advanced eommerce website. But, what if they don’t have a budget for this? How do they go about selling thier works online without having to spend so much on the website? That is where Shopify comes into the picture.

Now let’s see why he/she should be using Shopify or why not.

Features

Hosting and security

No, you don’t have to even look out for hosting services because Shopify hosts the online store for you and don’t have to worry about getting your domain either, although, you can always integrate your URL with Shopify if you have secured one already. Also, Shopify offers unlimited bandwidth for no extra hidden costs! The user can have a million visitors to his site and he/she will keep them all happy because the site will still be up and running fine. On top of the wonderful hosting it provides, Shopify also protects your site using top-notch security – your site is Level 1 PCI compliant (the same level of security that even the most popular banks and ecommerce sites currently use) and the cart the customer checks out with is SSL encrypted to ensure that credentials remain totally secure.

Design and themes

After getting the domain name and setting up the site on Shopify, the user might wonder how to make his site look appealing for customers, since he didn’t have a clue about coding nor did he have a budget for web designers to spruce up his online store. That’s where the Themes Store comes into play: there are free and paid themes aplenty, for any business category you can think of. Any Shopify user can now go ahead and pick the theme they loved the most and even customize it to great extent without the help of a web designer. Premium themes come at prices ranging from $50-$180.

The App Store

Our user, say Mark, is a great photographer and painter, but when it came to keeping track of his orders, shipments and social media marketing, he’s still a beginner and of course, has more productive things to do than see who ordered what or who paid how much. So, Shopify decided to help out people like Mark by introducing the App Store where they sell free and premium plugin-like apps that take care of stuff like analytics, shipments and orders placed by the customers. All Mark has to do is install the apps on his Shopify site and he’ll be all set to start selling his work.

Here are some great apps that you should try:

1. Exit offers – Tracks abandoned checkouts and even tracks how much money the app has saved you. It is also highly customisable.

2. AfterShip - An absolutely free app that lets you track the shipment status of your shipped products and in the premium variant you can offer this feature to your customers directly without them having to approach customer service.

3. In Stock Reminder – We hate it when a product we look for is out of stock right? But, what if it happens with your customer? You wouldn’t want to lose the customer, of course. So In Stock Reminder will help the customer made aware when the product they were interested in become available again. Easy peasy!

Responsive structure

35% of the worldwide internet usage is on either smartphones or tablets. So, how will our user cater to the significant 35% of the population? Is it possible once again, Shopify had sorted it out already? Yeah, seems to be the case, as almost all of the themes on the Shopify Theme Store (even the free ones) are responsive and work like magic on all smartphones and tablets!

Where does Shopify score big?

1. Ease of use

A complete beginner can start selling on his online store in minutes after setting up because Shopify is extremely simple to use. No convoluted customization steps – plain, simple, layman understandable options to prettify the site. It keeps track of your inventory and orders seamlessly. Bar the lingo that is indigenous to the site – Collections, etc. – it should be like cutting through a cheesecake.

2. Integration of other service providers

If you have been using the Internet already for your business you would definitely have heard about MailChimp. So, the cool guys like the ones at MailChimp for instance, got approached by Shopify to build apps that would integrate the plugin and the Shopify site – which would help Mark and get closer to his potential customers. Also, Shopify knows that there are folks out there who spend almost all of their Internet time on Facebook, so they have an app that helps you setup a store on Facebook as well. For others, there are apps that will integrate other social networking sites to your Shopify as well.

3. Autoresponse to abandoned checkouts

Almost all of us are multi-tasking and you can’t expect your users to stay on your site until they’ve checked out with their cart and purchased product. So, what you can do to clinch your potential customers’ deal is to send in a gentle reminder a few days later to notify the customer about the unfinished purchases. There are plugins like ‘Exit Apps’ to do the mundane jobs efficiently and automatically, although you can always manually go and check out the ‘Abandoned Checkouts’ and get back to the customer about their unfinished purchase. This way, you can save hundreds to a few thousand dollars every month.

4. Unparalleled service

Shopify has a customer service base that is boasted by none in the business. If you ever face a roadblock, you can always chat live with the customer service personnel to clarify your doubts or even shoot an e-mail to them. But, where Shopify actually does strike a chord with its users is its 24/7 Customer Care number – one for each country (USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore are the countries currently covered) – that you can call and get your issues sorted!

5. Automatic backup

Unlike other self-hosted WordPress/other service providers’ eCommerce sites, you don’t have to search for third-party backup sites to help you backup your data. Shopify has its own backup and does it automatically, periodically. That way, all your data is secure and not going anywhere even if you are facing a data loss on your site.

6. Statistics

You don’t have to hire a data analytics person to draw up your weekly/monthly charts. Why? Shopify understands that you have better stuff to do than to draw pie charts and simple graphs and hence, takes the load on itself and chalks out these statistical data for you automatically every day/week/month/quarter/year!

Where Shopify drops a few key points

1. Pricey, pricey!

For small business startups Shopify is a tad heavy on the wallet. Even the most basic plans come at $29/month and will leave you 2% short of all the money you make due to the transaction charges Shopify gets for every transaction made. This shouldn’t be a problem for businesses making thousands of dollars every month but small-time businesses are hurt by these transaction charges. Other plans include – Starter at $14 a month, Professional at $79 a month and Unlimited at $179 a month.

2. Not-so-great chat experience

More often than not you have to wait in a queue to chat with an agent and there is no way to get an alert when your chance arrives. The wait can take from a few minutes to even an hour depending on the number of people waiting ahead of you. Nonetheless, the chat experience is lovely as such with prompt and helpful replies from the agent.

3. Liquid what?

Well, you can be HTML hotshot or CSS csar, but when you come to Shopify, unless you are a Liquid ninja you are going to find your ship in troubled waters. Yes, even for professional web designers who are HTML/CSS experts, Shopify puts a stopper and throws at them their own language – Liquid.

Verdict

Cons aside, it has been widely accepted by so many designers that Shopify has reinvented the world of ecommerce and we have at least a hundred reasons to give them an Amen. Yes, they may be a bit pricey for some of us, but all good things come at a price, don’t they? But don’t just listen to us: we highly recommend to try their extensive 14-day free trial (no CC needed) and see for yourself if it’s a good fit or not. Check this article for more Shopify reviews.

]]>http://designreviver.com/tips/shopify-for-designers-review/feed/0http://designreviver.com/tips/shopify-for-designers-review/What should you invest in when you run an online business?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/STqXM3Ezzmg/
http://designreviver.com/articles/invest-run-online-business/#commentsFri, 12 Dec 2014 14:21:03 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=18017Running an online business is a lot more difficult at the moment than it used to be. Just a few years ago we did…

Running an online business is a lot more difficult at the moment than it used to be. Just a few years ago we did not have such a huge competition. At the moment the competition is huge and this is true for absolutely all the niches in all industries. It is really important that you take the necessary time to figure out what the best online business investment is. This is harder than you may think at first glance.

In order to help you out, we will talk about the investments that you have to consider in the long run. These will help you to choose correctly and grow your business accordingly.

A Professional Theme Or Design

If you want to run a serious business, you will want to invest money in professional themes for your CMS platform or work with a professional designer to offer you something that is unique. This is something that is really important because of the fact that you need to stand out when compared with the competition. If necessary, try to consider investments or loans, with options like Betterment Investing being considered in the long run. However, in many situations businesses will want to invest only what they can afford in their design so see what budget is available and stick to it.

Security

Really reputable companies always invest a lot of money in the security that is connected with their company, with the OptionsXpress Broker as the first example to come to mind. For instance, you may run an online business that directly sells products and services. In this case, you would use a platform that allows potential clients to directly make sales. It is a certainty that you would need at least an SSL connection and you do want to be sure that people are going to actually have a good shopping experience with you.

Security is paramount in everything that you do online. Your theme should not have any loopholes. Have patience and always choose options that are suitable for your business. If you do not do this, it is a guarantee you would be faced with problems in the long run. Security is necessary to protect your data and the identity of your shoppers.

A Professional Management Team

As the business grows, it is impossible to keep control of absolutely everything. This is one thing that you have to figure out as soon as possible. Your online business needs to basically be run by a professional management team. It is the only way in which you can be 100% sure that you will always keep control.

Make sure that you interview every single person that you want to hire. It is the one thing that will help you out the most at the end of the day. If you do not do that, you can end up with huge problems since you will definitely lose control. The best management team is the one that understands your business and that always does what is necessary to succeed in the long run.

]]>http://designreviver.com/articles/invest-run-online-business/feed/4http://designreviver.com/articles/invest-run-online-business/Giveaway: Win 3 WordPress Themes By TeslaThemeshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/AYVbPRVt0TE/
http://designreviver.com/freebies/giveaway-win-3-wordpress-themes-teslathemes/#commentsTue, 09 Dec 2014 14:42:13 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=18008We are happy to announce that we have teamed up with TeslaThemes for an amazing giveaway. We are giving away 3 of their most popular…

We are happy to announce that we have teamed up with TeslaThemes for an amazing giveaway. We are giving away 3 of their most popular themes to 3 lucky winners. Yes, you read that right, each winner will get 3 themes for a combined total worth of $117.

Giveaway Details

Period of time: From December 9, 2014 to December 23rd, 2014Prize: 3 commercial WordPress themes offered by TeslaThemesWinners: 3 lucky users

How To Enter The Giveaway

All you need to do in order to enter the giveaway is leave a comment below. Once the giveaway has ended we will randomly select 3 lucky winners.

The Prizes

Each winner will get 3 WordPress Themes created by TeslaThemes. Have a read below to see just what it is you can win:

CoolStuff is another great theme that is fully responsive and offers a modern, flat, minimalist design. The theme comes with simple Vimeo and YouTube integration. As well as an events page template that is amazing for websites who plan to run an event.

Vulcano comes with a clean, minimalist design, smooth transition effects, a beautiful portfolio and a rich set of advanced features. This theme is great for creative people who wish to show-off their portfolio. If you are looking for a theme that allows you to showcase your works in a creative manner, then this this is definitely the right theme for you.

The weather outside is slowing getting chillier, this means snow is close. Several web designers have decided to incorporate snow into their designs. In this article we have found 8 great examples of winter inspired websites.

]]>http://designreviver.com/news-roundup/8winter-inspired-website-designs/feed/1http://designreviver.com/news-roundup/8winter-inspired-website-designs/Tesla Themes – Cyber Monday deal: get 50% OFF on everythinghttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/WbDgkw64Ikw/
http://designreviver.com/updates/tesla-themes-cyber-monday-deal-get-50-off-everything/#commentsMon, 01 Dec 2014 19:40:12 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=17973The guys at Tesla Themes have something great to offer this Cyber Monday. If you are looking for a new WordPress theme, then this deal…

The guys at Tesla Themes have something great to offer this Cyber Monday. If you are looking for a new WordPress theme, then this deal is definitely something for you. From now and until 2nd of December simply use this coupon code WEEKENDSALE14 to get 50% OFF on all their WordPress Themes and subscription plans.

Promotional details:

When? From 27th November, 2014 to 2nd December, 2014What do I get? 50% discount on all WordPress Themes and Subscription plansHow to benefit? Include this coupon code WEEKENDSALE14 in the “Enter Coupon Code” field and proceed to payment. That’s it!

]]>http://designreviver.com/updates/tesla-themes-cyber-monday-deal-get-50-off-everything/feed/3http://designreviver.com/updates/tesla-themes-cyber-monday-deal-get-50-off-everything/10 Thanksgiving wallpapers to be thankful forhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/sjLOzSYNBmE/
http://designreviver.com/inspiration/10-thanksgiving-wallpapers-thankful/#commentsThu, 27 Nov 2014 11:24:23 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=17956As you might remember from last year, we are great fans of Thanksgiving. This year we have found 10 amazing wallpapers that we are…

As you might remember from last year, we are great fans of Thanksgiving. This year we have found 10 amazing wallpapers that we are thankful for, we hope you will use them to get your desktop in the holiday spirit.

]]>http://designreviver.com/inspiration/10-thanksgiving-wallpapers-thankful/feed/1http://designreviver.com/inspiration/10-thanksgiving-wallpapers-thankful/15 Stunning black wallpapershttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/BdJBZ1dBCYQ/
http://designreviver.com/inspiration/15-stunning-black-wallpapers/#commentsWed, 26 Nov 2014 13:18:58 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=17931At Design Reviver we love simplicity, and what is more simplistic than a wallpaper with a bold color such as black. In this post…

At Design Reviver we love simplicity, and what is more simplistic than a wallpaper with a bold color such as black. In this post we have found 15 stunning black wallpapers. We hope you will enjoy these as much as we have.

]]>http://designreviver.com/inspiration/15-stunning-black-wallpapers/feed/1http://designreviver.com/inspiration/15-stunning-black-wallpapers/8 Best Approaches to Design a Website (That Can Also Impact Your Conversions)http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/piywycGVKdY/
http://designreviver.com/tips/8-best-approaches-design-website-can-also-impact-conversions/#commentsWed, 19 Nov 2014 14:34:08 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=17914A website’s design is not dependent on its visual flare of the amount of things you’ve managed to fit on one page, it’s about…

A website’s design is not dependent on its visual flare of the amount of things you’ve managed to fit on one page, it’s about usability and utility. These two elements are what define a successful website, not the amount of visual flare. Just like people, the beauty of a website needs to come from within. A hollow shell will crack easily, while a strong foundation will stand the test of time.

A user-centered approach to website design is a basic concept that we’ll expand upon as we move into this list of 8 different approaches to website design that will increase your traffic and impact your conversions in a big way. Remember, design is more than just the visual, it goes far deeper. For more information on developing and growing your website, see this blogging resource.

Effective Website Design: 8 Ways to Cater to Your Users and Design for Them

Despite the difference in setting, the people who come into your website aren’t all that different from people who shop in a store. Your storefront is just a virtual one. Just like shoppers casually walk through a store, letting their eyes wander, so too will your readers scan your content. People don’t read from beginning to end in most cases, they usually browse, looking for specific cues that entice them to read on.

People on the internet are looking for several things when they visit your website, these actionable concepts will be further exemplified in the coming approaches, but keep these characteristics in mind as you read:

● Users scan, they don’t read.
● Customers want instant gratification, you have to meet expectations fast.
● Web users choose the first reasonable option they see.
● Quality and credibility are something all users look for in a website.
● People want control and consistency in a website.

1. Create Obvious and Self-Explanatory Web Pages

There is a concept called Krug’s Laws of Usability, and the first of these says that a web-page should be “obvious and self-explanatory.” The goal of your website should be to remove any and all questions of what each page does and what purpose it serves. In essence, your visitor’s first reaction shouldn’t be this:

Ultimately, simplicity and ease of use is your friend here, so focus on these characteristics for your web page:

● Make it easy to grasp the concepts on the page
● Present features and facts, show why your product is valuable
● Make it simple and easy to navigate across the various pages of the site

2. Utilize Visual Elements to Focus User’s Attention

The human eye instantly recognizes and is subsequently drawn to patterns, shapes, and certain words that catch our attention. A controlled use of visual elements like large words, colorful shapes, or boxed phrases can be used to establish the focal point of the page in the first few seconds after the visitor arrives.

Using words like “Free” and “Trial” are good because they help people feel like they aren’t committing, yet they still have an opportunity to see what you’re offering them. If users can easily navigate a page and a site, that have a better sense of where they are and are more inclined to stay and listen to your message. A lack of questions helps build a trust toward your brand.

Here’s how you can do this today:

● Design your web page with as little clutter as possible. Create a design with simple shapes and colors that direct the user’s attention to the focus of the page.
● Make it obvious how they can progress through large font and concise directions
● Eliminate any and all questions about what your message is trying to say and what you want from a user that visits the page.

3. Utilize Effective Writing Practices

While there’s nothing wrong with a little style, it’s important that your website doesn’t dance around the subject with brand specific terms and confusing vocabulary. Case and point, your text needs to be broken up into easy to read blocks where you utilize italics and bold to call out specific keywords and steps in your process.

Speak in a business oriented language. Instead of writing “See how we can help you today” or “Start saving now!” just keep it simple and make the button or link say what it’s meant to say: “Sign up.” Your visitors will be less hesitant to click links if they know exactly where it’s taking them. Doubt is your enemy here.

Here’s how to implement this today:

● Design your pages with clear and concise text and avoid fluffing up the text around the actual point of your message.
● Structure your text in easy to read paragraphs and bullet points, treat it like someone is scanning the page and needs to find the points quickly and easily.
● Use standard business language, don’t try to embellish the message with brand specific terminology or fancy wording.

4. Remember That White Space Isn’t Necessarily a Bad Thing

Contrary to what you may think, white space is a good thing. The occasional break in color or formatting allows our eyes and our mind to reset. Constant sensory assault doesn’t help, in fact it burdens your reader and makes them want to leave the site. The first action of an average reader is to divide your web page into pieces of information that they can scan easily.

White space allows you create a simple and effective structure to your web design that allows the eye to easily scan the content. Simon’s law dictates that Hierarchical structures reduce complexity, so providing a page layout that is clearly separated and structured with white space as the dividing element is the best way to keep the content easily digestible.

Implement this today with these tips:

● Divide the content into a structured set based on the importance and create a hierarchy of information that is divided by breaks in the form of white space.
● Don’t be afraid to allow white space in your design, it reduces the visual and mental load of the page, making it easier to read and comprehend.

5. Define a Visible Language

Communication is about more than simple words. Your content speaks a message beyond what’s written on the page. It goes deeper to communicate through the structure of your design, and the visual message you’re sending. A paper by Suzanne Martin entitled Effective Visual Communication for Graphical User Interfaces put forth three actions that create a visible language: Organize, economize, and communicate.

The first action, organize, refers to the architecture of your page. You need to have consistency in the way you lay out the text, and establish a relationship between the various topics of content on said page. This leads into the concept of economizing the page which is simply using the least amount of visual cues to provide a clear and concise message to your readers. It’s also important to create distinction between the elements of your content. Only feature the aspects that make them stand out and emphasize those accordingly.

Finally, communicating your message through the visible language involves providing the user with the ability to understand the various elements of your message through simple and easy to understand design.

Here’s how to implement this today:

● Approach every aspect of your web design with the idea of doing a lot with very little. Economize your pages to be effective without being cluttered.
● Once you’ve decided on a structure, don’t waver. Consistency across your pages will create a more cohesive whole.
● Emphasize and separate your points, featuring their unique properties.

6. Use What Works

Conventional methods of web design fall into that category because they tend to work well. Don’t be afraid to adopt methods that are proven. It’s always good to try new things, but there’s also something to be said about not fixing what isn’t broken. Social media buttons for example are usually represented in a similar fashion across all websites. If there were different ones for every site, the inconsistency would be detrimental to everyone involved.

Users have a specific expectation for your site when they arrive. It’s best to meet that expectation, at least from a design standpoint, before you wow them with your content. Steve Krug put it perfectly when he said “Only innovate if you know you really have a better idea.

Put this in action today:

● Visit other websites in your niche and see how they’re laid out.
● Find common elements between high ranking sites and implement them yourself
● Only change when you’ve found that something established doesn’t work, or you have a truly better idea.

7. Don’t Test Your Visitor’s Patience

At some point your website is going to ask something of your visitors. When this happens, strive to make it a process that is simple and easy to understand. People don’t want to sign up for your email newsletter if they have to fill out a long form. Just a name and a email will suffice. Offer some free features that have little to no barrier between them and the user. This way they can try out your service or see your content without having to cross through a registration wall.

Put this into action today:

● Find ways to showcase the features of your service or product that users can test out without having to register first.
● Make the registration process fast, less than thirty seconds preferably.

8. Design Your Content for People, Not Search Engines

We’ve all heard plenty about SEO, I’m sure, but it’s important to remember who you’re writing for. While a well optimized article or post will rank high on a search engine, it does nothing if it cannot provide value to the reader or offer them a solution to their question or problem. Search engines like Google are striving to implement new updates that better focus on these kinds of articles, so don’t be afraid to focus on your readers.

If your content is relevant, your design is simple and elegant, and your keywords are there without being stuffed in, the SEO will take care of itself. It’s always important to remember these techniques, but never sacrifice the user quality of the website to better serve a search engine.

Here’s how to start doing this today:

● Read up on advanced SEO techniques, but don’t force keywords into your content or your design.
● Make sure everything you do is relevant and seeks to solve a problem or answer a question.

Jumpstart Your Web Design with This Helpful Plugin

If you’re using WordPress, which most users are, you know that plugins are essential to building your website. A great plugin to use that opens up a suite of other apps that are integral to building your website is one called SumoMe. This plugin will grant you access to tools that collect emails, provide social sharing buttons, and more.

When you’ve decided on your website’s layout, the next step is making it useful and accessible. This plugin allows you to do just that.

Final Thoughts

There’s no defined method for designing a website. There are, however, a lot of things that work very well and tactics (like the ones above) that facilitate a strong and simple design. Take these concepts into account and apply them to your site today for an instant transformation that will increase traffic and conversions. Thanks as always for reading and tell me about your designs in the comments below.

Author bio: Venchito Tampon is the sole author of Digital Philippines, a link building blog that publishes actionable link building strategies and content marketing techniques to new and advanced internet marketers. He also provides link building services to local and international clients based.

]]>http://designreviver.com/tips/8-best-approaches-design-website-can-also-impact-conversions/feed/3http://designreviver.com/tips/8-best-approaches-design-website-can-also-impact-conversions/15+ Inspiring contact formshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/owumOuczKf8/
http://designreviver.com/updates/15-inspiring-contact-forms/#commentsThu, 13 Nov 2014 16:16:56 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=17889Everybody knows that a Contact Page is one of the most important aspects of a website, and yet so many developers seem to neglect…

Everybody knows that a Contact Page is one of the most important aspects of a website, and yet so many developers seem to neglect their importance. In addition to the regular fields such as Name, Mail and Message, some designers go the extra mile to by adding additional features to the contact pages. In this article we have found some simply amazing contact sites, if you feel we have forgotten any, then feel free to let us know.

]]>http://designreviver.com/updates/15-inspiring-contact-forms/feed/1http://designreviver.com/updates/15-inspiring-contact-forms/Giving your home a unique edgehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesignReviver/~3/aWW4rZ5pqzI/
http://designreviver.com/inspiration/giving-home-unique-edge/#commentsWed, 12 Nov 2014 18:41:15 +0000http://designreviver.com/?p=17878If you want to make the interior of your home look unique but you have a limited budget, then there are lots of everyday…

If you want to make the interior of your home look unique but you have a limited budget, then there are lots of everyday objects that you can upcycle to give your home an interesting appearance. You don’t necessarily need to spend a fortune and letting your creativity flow will let you really express yourself.

Here is a list of 7 upcycled items to inspire you:

1. Build a bookshelf from an old ladder

By turning a ladder on its side and nailing it to the wall will give you an instant bookshelf. You position it however you like, including using it to fill a blank corner of the room:

The guys at Factory Direct Craft Blog have put together a comprehensive how to guide on upcycling your old, unused bottles into lamps here. Viralityfacts.com have also put together a post for upcycling wine bottles with a staggering 22 unique ideas.

3. Create a mirror frame from old plastic cards

Cut up old cards and create a montage that you can stick around the frame of your mirror to give it a unique look. It can be as structured or chaotic as you like:

5. Make a mirror from an old tennis racket

Instructions on how to build this work of art can be found here, if you’d like to upcycle your old tennis rackets into something else look no further than scaphacker.com, some of the inspirational ideas include wall sculptures and jewellery hangers.

6. Use old books as a shelf

Making an ‘invisible shelf’ is a great way to decorate a room. If you put up some brackets on the wall and use an old book as the main platform, you can make it look as if it’s floating:

7. Create a pallet/crate table

Michelle Kenneth has put together a feature on up-cycling wooden crates, she has some great ideas including shelves and a chaise lounge. You can find even more inspiration for old crates and boxes on Pinterest.